Chapter 9
76. Pole Spear.
Every now and then go back and bust out the pole spear to re-hone hunting skills. In our interview with multiple world spearfishing record holder Cameron Kirkconnell, he lists off several benefits including:
77. Have a Laugh.
I tell people that even if I shoot no fish when I go out, I never fail to have a good time with the lads. From relentless ponytail and kiwi jokes to blasting the music (Katy Perry or something similarly masculine) to dressing someone down for their last dive-day performance; the boys provide awesome banter as we head out to our destinations. I have been out on a few boats with people who don’t even talk to you until you have “proven” yourself in some way – don’t be these guys! What a shit way to do anything, stay humble and as our mate Richard ‘Snoek’ Leonard says “Don’t lose that frothing grom noob stoke, so many guys are too serious. It’s only spearfishing, remember why you are out there!”
78. Dive buddy. Look after your mates.
Often spearfishing is such an individual experience. I sometimes get in the zone and forget about everything and everyone around me. I am so focused on myself, my immediate surroundings, and internally relaxing that I forget about my dive buddy. When I realize, I look up and my “dive buddy” may be 75 meters away! It happens less now as I consciously make an effort, but when I find myself in this position I either swim to my mate or yell out to him to come over to the good ground. I find that when I am being less self-focused, I will shoot more fish for some reason, possibly because I am letting go of the single-minded predatory body language. Either way, my dive buddy is safer and we can share the good and bad times together. #serious note, lots of people, particularly young guys die participating in this sport. We are so geared to hunt that we turn off our own internal safety checks – Dive with a buddy, for real.
79. Dive Log.
Keep a log of every dive along with good notes; seriously, this might sound a bit ponderous and boring. However, this will pay big dividends in the future. Seasonal variations of species, visibility, and current are often regular and re-creatable scenarios. Here is a list of the type of information you might like to record:
80. GoPro.
This tip comes from Michael Takach via the LowBros.
“When you have finished your dive and are about to turn the GoPro off, indicate with your free hand with a quick thumbs up or thumbs down or the old ‘not sure’ shaky hand to indicate how good the footage was, this will save so much time in the editing phase”. As many know the task of going through hours and hours of GoPro footage trying to find good stuff is tedious business. This technique can save the editor heaps of time by allowing them to scroll quickly to the end of each clip rather than having to watch through every dive to see if there is anything worth using.
81. Time in the Water.
“Have a whole lot of fun, man. The ocean is such a beautiful place, it’s a magical place, you know? Try to keep the awe factor, the stoke. No matter how many times you’ve been to that same crack in the reef, no matter how many times you’ve dived along that same gully. Keep that stoke, enjoy the ocean, it’s the most beautiful thing that God’s created and He’s given it to us. So just enjoy it and always stay stoked about it. And then if you want to get good at diving, the best way to do it, is time in the water. That’s really the best way to do it. Just spend time in the water. Like anything we do in life, the more consistently you do it, the more you learn about doing it. And you’ll find guys like in my latest movie, One Fish Legends, (guys) like Barry Paxman, who on any given year can spend up to 250 – 300 days in the water. That’s a lot of time. And you see him today, he is still so passionate, even about shooting that 5 kilo Spanish mackerel. He’s so stoked.” (Richard Leonard)
“Become a good hunter. You can be the best athlete in the world, but if you don’t know how to hunt a fish… some of my best mates have been amazing athletes, but they can’t hunt a fish. They don’t know how to find the fish. Learn to hunt and that just means spending lots of time in the water.” (Darren Shields)
82. Dive with different people and in different places.
If you only dive warm and clean water you will lack a broad skill-set and the adaptability that diving a variety of conditions provides. Every spearo has something different, something unique that they do that gives them an edge. Dive with them and learn from them (sometimes this means noting what not to do!), if nothing else, it’s good fun listening to other spearos anyway.
83. Developing Awareness.
“… try and understand the sea, the sea is a unique system and we are just the elements which are in the sea and you cannot enforce your own rules there. You have to try to learn with the sea, the currents, the fish behaviour, the temperature, the visibility, the thermocline, the waves, the boats, everything. You have to learn how it all works, and you have to understand the system and adapt your diving to it” (Anvar Mufazalov)
Heading out drift diving from boats is common off Brisbane’s Moreton Island. It took me maybe 3-4 trips drift diving reefs doing this before I noticed that most of the bait and, therefore, the predatory pelagic species (that I was targeting) were hanging out over the fronts of the reef (where the current first comes up over). So timing my dives so that I was in the right position (in the water column) as the current brought me over the reef was crucial for giving me the best chance at these fish.
*Tip: Maintain a learning mindset and consciously develop your in-water awareness. By observation and analysing what is happening around you, you will be able to continually take advantage of opportunities that many fail to notice. Along with this, another tip is: Don’t rely on others to give you all the information. Asking questions is great but lots of what you learn comes by observation and asking questions later.
84. Peeing in your suit.
There’s no health risk to peeing in your wetsuit says www.spearfishing.com.au “Most people don’t realize that urine is sterile, unless you have an infection of the urinary tract. The more water you drink, the less smelly your pee will be. The worst you have to fear is a case of diaper rash if the urine stays against your skin several hours, and this too is less of a problem when your urine is diluted”. Solution: Open your wetsuit under water and rinse it between dives.” Therefore pee away I say, just make sure to wash your wetsuit thoroughly!
85. Social Media.
Modern-day spearos are aware of the negative stigma that media has played (due to its sensationalist nature) and they are trying to change the public’s perception by sharing the real spearfishing experience. Think about what you share from the perspective of people who are not familiar with it.